


Red Hair and Red Eyes

by Alstreim



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst and Humor, F/F, Fem!Harry, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Kitsune Half-Blood Protagonist, Life and Plot, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-29 10:09:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18776137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alstreim/pseuds/Alstreim
Summary: Izumi had always found magic to be fascinating, at least insofar as she had the presence of mind to wonder about things like that. (Kitsune Half-blood Reincarnation SI. Ish)





	1. Feeling

I loved my mother. She was a wonderful dotting woman who couldn't be more attached to her baby girl if she'd tried. My father was also really nice and if the dopey look of pride and affection was anything to go by, he clearly loved me deeply, even if he was almost never home.

And what a home it was.

Can you say manor? I couldn't at first, my body hadn't been developed enough for it, but I didn't need to be able to say it to understand that my home was one. It was my dream house made real. The kind of tasteful opulence that came with being old money. I was really, really okay with it. Given this, and the way the world in general seemed to be such a bright and amazing place, I was of the opinion that I could be forgiven for not realizing that wand-waving magic was actually a thing. I would be the first to agree that I wasn't the most observant of people, but I really wasn't sure how it took me so long to notice Father waving his wand around.

Yeah.

I don't think I'd ever be able to forget the moment when it truly sank in that the wooden stick in Father's hand was indeed a wand and the source of the bouquet of flowers he gave Mama. It was probably a good thing he took her out for a date that night because Mama might have grown concerned at my continued unresponsiveness. Shocked was an understatement when describing how I felt. The maniacal laughter that followed once I got past the shock would have probably also worried her.

For the record, that was why the family manor's library suddenly became my second home within the dwelling. Also for the record, the first home was Mama's room because I really loved her to an extent I didn't think was possible and sleeping alone was… difficult. I wasn't sure I could remember the last time I'd actually stepped foot in my own room. I even slept in her room when Father came home. Admittedly, Mama didn't and I was pretty sure they simply used a different room to have some alone time with each other, but I was not ever going to think about that. 

Ever.

Yes, Father was fucking Mama into a puddle of bliss such that the days following his visits home had her in such a state of relaxation and happiness. No, I didn't want to even let the concept cross my mind, but it was difficult not to when the morning after always had her behaving like the most relaxed, most satisfied kitten ever.

Yeah.

Incidentally, that was how I realized I was not a fully human. Mama always had this extremely exotic air to her, but it was only on the days after Father came home that she allowed her inhuman features to show. I didn't need her to explain to me what the eight bushy tails behind her meant, nor the slitted bloody red eyes, or the sharp canines, or the fox ears on top of her head. Again, yeah.

Honestly, I laughed for a solid few minutes when I first realized what those features meant for me. Yes, I would be horribly discriminated against by the majority of wizarding Britain, a society of which we were indeed members (Father's accent was noticeable, as were those of the people we interacted with on the extremely rare times that my parents took me out of the manor), but who the fuck gave a shit about that when it meant that I had magic, a measure of bias thanks to laws protecting old wizarding families (of which I was a member, despite being haffie, thanks to Father), Mama's looks whenever I grew up, and at least a portion of her natural talent for magic.

Honestly, it was almost unfair.

After all, toddlers weren't supposed to be capable of reading.

I was.

Predictably, I found as many books on magical theory as I could find, with Arithmancy and Runes close behind. Finding the book on mind magic was the real catch though. After all, depending on what version of the world I was in, mind-fuckery could range from extremely dangerous to extremely fucking dangerous. I'd honestly have to be lucky for it to only be an information security danger.

Hopefully, my kitsune blood made me an unappealing target for predators. I'd read far too many stories where girls were raped and obliviated. Usually, by people in a position of authority, teachers at Hogwarts included, and not exclusively enough to not be fucking terrified of the world I now lived in.

Ugh.

So I read everything I could get my hands on about magic. Everything. Well, everything except history that wasn't referenced by other books. I literally couldn't give a fuck about the history of a bunch of self-important inbred hicks who didn't know what fucking electricity was.

That's how I ended up practicing Occlumency and Legilimency before I could even speak well, and that's how Mama discovered there was something out of the ordinary with me around the same time. Apparently practicing Legilimency on your own mother was a bad idea. Not because it was liable to get me punished, but because Mama had mental defenses despite not being a witch, and she noticed what I was doing the instant I tried it.

The resultant panic when she turned the mental invasion around on me was something I never wanted to ever experience again, but the explosion of affection, pride, and love from Mama even after she saw the extras inside of me made me love her even more.

"Silly girl. We kitsune are not like the close-minded people of your father's kind," she said when she pulled back from my mind. Her hands caressed me even as she planted a kiss on my forehead. "I cannot see what you've seen with any degree of clarity, my love, but I do not care. Even though my blood within you is dormant, you are still my beloved daughter, and that is all that matters to me."

It made sense really. Mama had to be very old, even by wizarding standards. I'd seen memories of ancient Japan in her head. Even if I didn't recall the details clearly, I understood that her having memories of a Mongolian invasion of Japan likely made her one of the oldest living beings on the British Isles, possibly the world. Father must have done something truly marvelously remarkable when he won her heart.

The end result was that I ended up playing mind magic games with Mama, and she ended up exercising her own mental abilities. Honestly, it was for the best. Who knew what a stray legilimens could glean from her mind if she ever met one. This way she'd be prepared and capable of defending herself.

I was the heiress to the Ancient and Noble House of Alstreim and Mama the consort to the head of the family. That gave both of us a certain degree of protection, even if we weren't as well known as other old families. Given that up until my birth we as a family apparently kept to either the colonies or Britain's Asian territories and rarely spent any time in our British holdings, there was a possibility that my family would be considered enough of an unknown factor for any potential threat to be too scared to attempt anything against us.

Yeah. I know. Fat fucking chance.

So yeah. I was now a member of a noble family in magical society.

Somehow, the sheer amount of privilege at my back wasn't enough to reassure me I was safe.

This lead back to my thirst for power and knowledge. Magic was… amazing didn't begin to describe the wonders that were my birthright. This, combined with my, let's be honest and call it what it is, near lack of self-preservation instincts levels of curiosity and my admittedly unhealthy fear of the world, made for a drive to learn, practice, and experiment that had me foregoing quite a bit of sleep just to do even a little bit more.

Still, stealing Father's wand to practice magic was difficult on account of him keeping it in a wrist holster and how rarely he was home, but I managed it. I'd cuddled against him and Mama while they were spending time together and used the comfortable atmosphere to snag the thin, beautifully carved piece of wood and hid it with my body as best I could. I'm not sure how I made it out of the room without getting caught, but before long I was in Mama's room with an old copy of the Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 I'd found in the library.

Wand looking extremely oversized for my toddler self but nevertheless firmly in hand, I let that warm feeling I'd grown to recognize as my magic surge through me and make contact with the wand. It caused an odd feeling to resonate through me. It was… warm and affectionate, reminiscent to a degree of Father's feelings towards me, almost like an echo. I could feel the wand's acceptance, its eagerness to help its master's daughter explore the wonders of magic.

"Lumos."

It was a very simple spell, with a simple wand movement but I still felt my magic bottleneck at the wand despite its willingness. It seemed we were not very compatible. A flickering reddish light sprang forth from the tip despite the mismatch though. It was such an amazing rush. Giggles burst from a place of joy deep within me.

I was doing magic.

I was fucking doing magic and would get to do even more in my very long, possibly immortal life.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

I felt the spell connect with the bed, felt the sudden intense rush of magic flowing towards the wand in an attempt to fuel the effect, felt the weight of the bed through the spell, all of it in a sudden instant of knowing and then the bed lifted from the floor.

I would live my life for the wonders of magic.

I was startled from staring at our bed just floating in the middle of the air by said bed crashing hard back to the floor. I may or may not have squeaked.

What had happened though?

"Wingardium… Levio… sa…"

The words were slurred, thick and difficult, and my arm refused to move like I wanted it to. I was puzzled. I looked down and then I was more or less face down on the fluffy carpet Mama insisted on for her rooms.

I could see why she liked the carpet. It was very comfortable.

I woke up warm and safe in Mama's arms, a cocoon of fluffy tails around us.

"Ah, my silly baby. You're finally awake."

I responded by cuddling into her, an action to which she responded by lightly biting an ear and pulling my head back by it. I couldn't help a small whimper of pain and surprise. How had she done that? My hair covered my ears! Did she have like a mom superpower for ear pulling or something? That was totally not fair. Would I get a mom power of my own? Or did I get a child power that grew up as I did and would evolve into a mom power when I became one? Truly, a mystery of the ages.

And not to bury the lead with speculation about secret powers and obliviousness, but why was my ear on top of my head instead of, you know, where it'd always been before.

"No, baby. You don't get to act cute or make eyes at me and get away with stealing your father's wand and hurting yourself using it."

I still tried making eyes at her. I must have been doing something right, because I could see her resolve weakening for a little bit before she glared at me and oh fuck she's really scary I'm sorry please stop glaring at me I'll be good.

"That's better," And just like that, she went back to being the utterly dedicated loving mother I adored instead of the terrifying harbinger of doom she'd briefly appeared to be. "Now, my beloved, please tell me how you managed to strain yourself so extremely that you Awakened my Blood within you. And then fainted. Your sisters were either born Awake or had to go through extreme trials to Awaken, if they ever even managed."

"I have sisters?!"

Sisters! They could play with me, and they would pet me and cuddle with me and show me magic and Mama was glaring at me again and it was terrifying and, "I cast a spell and the wand liked me but still didn't fit so my magic got stuck and then we cast another spell and it used a lot of magic because a lot got stuck too so we needed to use even more then the bed fell and then the carpet was really comfy."

Now I was blushing.

"There now, was that so hard?" She rubbed the mysterious top of the head ear and oh, oh my, "That's a good girl."

"She's purring." Father's voice came from somewhere far away. "How come you don't purr when I do that to you?"

"Consort, I do more than just purr at other times you touch me, but no, by all means, focus on this."

"Yes, well," He coughed, "At least we know she's got a real talent for magic. Though I suppose with our blood in her veins that was to be expected even before she Awakened yours."

"She will need training, but it is good she is so young. She will grow up complete," She hugged me tightly to her with the arm not occupied doing delicious things to my probably new ear. "I will take her with me for a time. There are things to be done, things we must do, and things she alone needs to do."

"You've got mysterious foxy things to do, huh?" He laughed, "Don't look at me like that, love. What else am I supposed to say?"

"The sacred traditions and rituals of my kind are more than just "mysterious foxy things," you barbarian," Mana sounded very miffed with Father. "They are truths and secrets of the world passed down from mother to daughter since time immemorial. Not… trivialities to mock."

"Hey, hey, I'm sorry, okay? Didn't mean anything bad by it," Father said, and he came into my field of vision, leaning over me to kiss Mama. "I was just teasing."

Mama huffed and leaned away from him, but gave in after some pleading.

Before long, I stood near the forest behind our home, my new super fluffy tail of fluffiness and (according to Mama) magical power wiggling around behind me, nothing at all like Mama's own super calm and regal fluffy tails of ultimate fluffiness and power beside me, which were, like, just floating around all regal and fluffy and stuff. We journeyed into the forest, and it felt like coming home, perhaps only a second home, but home nonetheless. I could feel the trees around me. There was so much energy, so much life. It was overwhelming.

I felt Mama's arms around me, picking me up from where I'd sat down on the ground, felt her wipe away tears I didn't realize I was crying.

"Shh, shh, baby. It's okay. It's just the forest. This is natural," She kissed my forehead. "I must admit, it's been a very long time since I've had a daughter react so strongly to their heritage. You will be very strong, my love."

She carried me further and further into the forest, and before long the only thing I could feel was Mama and the trees.

It took me some time to calm down, but eventually my mind adapted to the endless assault of sensation and fell asleep, exhausted, in Mama's arms. It wasn't until much later that I finally woke up.

When I did wake up, I spotted a bunny from where Mama held me in her arms. She'd apparently gone to sleep in a clearing, with her leaning against a tree and my body cradled against her chest, her tails covering my body. Both were really quite amazing, and I couldn't believe that one day mine would ever be like hers. At least my one tail was already super ultra fluffy. I just needed seven more, and as for the other thing, it was only a matter of time. Hopefully.

Still, fluffy bunny. It was just hopping around, probably looking for something to eat. I needed to pet it and cuddle it and, and…. We would have a fluff off! Yes! A fluff off that I would totally win. After all, my tail was very fluffy.

I wiggled in Mama's grasp, trying to get loose so I could catch the bunny, but my movement caused her arms and tails to wrap tighter around me. It wasn't until she finally woke up and realized I wanted to get down that she loosened her hold on me enough that my wiggling got me out of my comfy confinement.

Catching the bunny wasn't as difficult as I was expecting, but it still took me a few minutes of running around before I managed to get my arms around it. It was scared and it took a bit for it to calm down, likely not helped by the fact that I was sorta kinda probably fox enough to be recognized by it as a predator. The moment it did I ran back to where I could still feel Mama in the clearing and broke into a sprint when I saw her still leaning against the tree, an amused expression on her face.

"Look, Mama! I caught a bunny! It's so cute and fluffy and I just had to catch it and pet it and hug it!"

"Ah, what a considerate daughter you are, my beloved," she smiled her perfect beatific smile. "I didn't feel like catching breakfast this morning."

I couldn't help the gasp even though I was fairly certain she was only joking. Probably. Hopefully.

"Noooo! Mama, we can't eat the bunny! Bunnies aren't for eating, they're for cuddles!" I also did my very best to ignore the newly awakened part of me that not only very much wanted to eat the bunny, but wanted the chance to hunt it down again. The part that wanted to use my teeth and claws and nothing else to do so.

"Nonsense. Rabbit is delicious. Here, I'll show you," she reached for it, her hand inching towards me and the bunny, and I had to save it, had to run. As I darted back out of the clearing, a part of me couldn't help wondering if I was saving it from Mama or from myself. "Crazy girl."

"Run bunny! Run!" I said as I released Mama's intended breakfast once I was far enough.

I ran back to Mama and did my best to jump on her. She caught me midair with her tails before I could even make contact.

"Come here, my crazy girl. You must eat," she said and took out jerky and dried fruit chips from the charmed bag she was carrying.

We ate our delicious jerky in silence, and I curled into my mother for warmth. The forest was surprisingly cold. My fluffy tail of awesome fluffy power curled around one of hers, and her seven others curled around us. I ate until I was full to bursting because apparently, Mama believed in eating well before important events. Not to mention that according to her, my Awakening had taken a significant amount of energy to kickstart at a time I had already been drained and would still require quite a bit as I finished fully becoming one of Mama's blood.

"We are the blessed children of Inari, my beloved. Our line descends directly from our goddess and this means we are held to a higher standard than any other of our kind. We are not royalty, no, nothing so mundane," she said, and here my beloved mother got this look in her eyes that was a tad… disconcerting. "We are greater than that, for divine blood runs through our veins. My grandmother was born to our goddess, and so that makes our goddess your great-great-grandmother."

Okay, what? What the utter fuck? Like, okay. I could buy Mama was sorta kinda Shinto and believed in Inari Okami, since, you know, she was sorta kinda Japanese. I could also buy that Inari Okami was a real enough being to beget progeny and that with how we were pretty close to immortal some direct descendants might actually still be alive. I could even buy that maybe this being that was possibly the progenitor of my kind was actually more than just an overpowered run of the mill immortal and was, even if perhaps only in some small way, actually in some way divine.

But all of it?

Fuck me.

I had some thinking to do. Thinking that was pretty difficult to actually get done in light of how the wonder and feeling of home was slowly turning more and more sinister. Okay, so to be specific, the forest still felt like home, but I had a really bad feeling about things.

We ventured further into the forest after eating, and the further in we went the more I could feel nature, the unrestrained power of the wild. It was as exhilarating as it was terrifying. I didn't know how long we'd been walking when we entered the heart of the forest. I could feel it in my very core, in my soul, in my magic.

It was a clearing, covered by the canopies of trees. There was a huge tree in the center, easily twice, maybe three times larger than any other in the forest. I didn't know what the fuck the deal was with that tree, but I didn't want anything to do with it. Not that Mama seemed like she was going to allow me much choice in the matter. She was pulling me to the freaky super tree and didn't seem to care about my desperate attempts to get the fuck away. She just maintained her grip on my wrist and dragged me before it.

"Stop that, beloved. There is nothing to fear. This is your destiny and birthright as my daughter, as a Daughter of Inari. Your great-grandmother is one of the three great spirits. You may even be lucky enough to meet our goddess."

Her words were sharp and angry. It stung. She'd never spoken like that to me before and I felt tears drip down my cheeks. Surprise had robbed me of my energy, an opportunity which she took to pull my hand to the tree.

And the world fell away.


	2. Hallowed Ties

I stood before a flame, a lightning bolt, and a heat shimmer. Each one was beautiful, each one exuded a presence so immense I felt like I was suffocating, and behind them was an endless expanse of captivating light and darkness.

I felt as one by one, the three beings before me turned their attention upon me. They saw into me, their will reaching into the deepest parts of my being, exploring, looking, intrusive.

Invasive.

I felt as they reached my magic, the magic passed down to me by my father. I felt the moment their indifference turned to anger and then when the anger turned to hate. Two of them tightened their will painfully around me, around my magic, turning into an agony against the deepest, most integral and sacred parts of my being. They pulled me in two directions and I screamed. I cried and yelled and writhed in their grasp as two unknowable beings pulled at my magic and other parts, and did their best to rip them out of me.

Pain.

I'd never felt pain like this. This was the destruction of my soul. I felt something give in a burst of agony that burned away all thought. Pain, pain and the sudden feeling that my magic wasn't all there anymore. Another tearing sensation and a little more of it wasn't there anymore.

And throughout all of this, I screamed, I cried, I called out for Mama, for Father, for anyone to save me, to help, to please make it stop.

A little more of my soul tore.

"Please…"

The infinite field of coruscating light and darkness rippled as if in response to my plea and reality froze. I felt a fourth presence, this one warm and full of regret, enter my being and pry away the two… things that had destroyed me. I cried. I wanted to go home. I wanted my father. I wanted my magic. I wanted to sleep and never wake up if it meant I would never remember this.

But I didn't. I couldn't. It didn't let me. It held on to me and beheld the scraps that were the ruins of my being, of my soul. I felt its anger at the destruction wrought upon me, felt the mounting rage as power lashed out and smote the three things that had destroyed me. There was very little left of two of the smothering presences. The third was in agony similar to mine. Vindictive joy spread through me. I was avenged. I cried, and I was happy in the knowledge that I would not fade into oblivion alone.

Nothingness approached. I couldn't feel it, but I knew. The last thing I perceived was the fourth presence taking hold of the remains of the other two and bringing them closer.

It wasn't fair.

I hated it.

I hadn't even had a chance to really live, and now they'd made sure I never would.

At least oblivion meant I wouldn't exist to grieve over lost lives.

"I've never seen anything like it, Lord Alstreim. Her magic is very wounded, and we're not sure if she'll ever have the ability to do magic once she heals. She's lucky to be alive," said a distant voice. I heard a deep breath and the voice continued speaking. "Merlin. The only reason she's survived this long are the enchantments on her belly and lower back. Whatever it was your wife did has kept your daughter alive long enough to let her start healing."

"Is… Is there anything else you can do? Money is no object. Anything you could possibly need to help her, I can provide!" Father's voice rose as he spoke and he was shouting by the end. "Anything!"

"There's nothing we can do beyond keeping her nourished and comfortable. We've healed her body as best we could. All the damage that's left is not physical, and it's so extensive not even restorative potions based off of unicorn blood could improve her situation right now. All we can do is give her the tools and time to heal."

I wasn't awake. I wasn't asleep or unconscious either. I simply existed. And felt a lot of pain, but it was less than I remembered, so it was better than before. I could barely feel my magic, I could barely feel my body, but I could feel as something on my lower back and belly burned, and I could feel the new parts that weren't me gluing my being together, all held in place by an impossible force.

As the days passed the new parts started melting into me, and slowly the burning brands on my body faded away. Father was beside me often, he spoke to me as I healed, and his presence made me feel better. Mama spent a lot of time with me too, but she didn't talk much, and if I were to be honest, her being there was distressing. I loved my mother, but loving her hurt now.

I don't know how long I laid on that bed, but eventually Father stopped being there all the time and he only visited. It was every other day at first, then it was every few days, and then every couple weeks. Before long, his visits were months apart, a time difference I could tell because one of the Healers read the newspaper to me every morning. At least Mama lasted longer. Probably guilt, just like it was probably guilt that drove her away in the end. She'd poured her heart out to me while I slept.

"My beautiful girl. I love you so much. I… I am so sorry this happened to you. I should have listened when you tried to stop me," I heard her sniffle and felt her hand on my cheek. "But you survived. Thank Inari you survived. Literally, I suppose. You've been blessed by our Goddess. You have a wand now too. She wanted you to have one. Its wood came from the forest's heart tree, and the core is one of my fangs and a hair from our tails. She said it would serve you well."

"I should contact your sisters. Just… Just in case. They would want to have met you, however briefly, if- if-" Then she started crying and couldn't continue speaking. At least she had the courtesy to tell me she was leaving for a while. At least this way I knew not to let my hopes up that she would come back the next day. At least this way I knew for sure she wouldn't be coming back anytime soon. At least she had a good reason.

Was it obvious I was grasping at straws to make it okay that I'd been abandoned? To make me feel better about being left alone by my parents in a hospital bed for weeks and months on end? At least Mama brought my sisters to meet me, even if I couldn't say anything back.

She told them the truth. None of my nieces would ever be exposed to the hateful monsters lurking in the forest. Elder Sisters Yamashiro and Madoka were someone I grew to love quite a bit during my stay in that bed. They came back. They made an effort. I could feel it in their caresses, I could hear it in their voices. I was their beloved little sister, no matter that they only knew what Mama had told them about me. There were others, of course, but none of them as close as the two who became a constant reassuring presence beside my bed.

Over time I began to feel whole, and the burning brands on my front and back faded away, my consciousness and awareness of the world around me stopped being so… constant, until one day I dreamed. It was a nice dream. I didn't hurt, and I didn't feel like one huge scar. I was healthy, I'd never been not healthy, and everything was okay. Father and mother and my sisters were there, welcoming me back home.

I woke up with a start. The transition from pleasant dream to unpleasant reality causing me to jerk into a hunched sitting position. It was weird as fuck. Moving pulled at my skin in unfamiliar ways, and had burned like I'd just run all over the manor. The room I was in was very clearly a hospital room, even though it was a magical one. And I was alone. That hurt more than I was willing to admit.

I tried not to let it hurt. It was to be expected, really. The healer who read to me in the mornings after my daily potions had to be busy the rest of the day, and with how bullshit advanced magic could be I bet there was very little need to check on me at all. They certainly hadn't done so, which, you know, had made for a pretty boring existence during my stay. Thankfully the parade of sisters Mama had dragged through had helped a little, as had Yamashiro's and Madoka's continued visits.

Something was wrong though. Every movement I made felt sluggish and uncoordinated.

Then a healer barged in and the whole day got swept away in a barrage of tests and potions. At least they were very happy to see me awake. They'd even wasted no time in treating the aforementioned wrongness, which as it turned out were issues with my muscles. Laying still in a bed for several months wasn't good for them, apparently. Father must have spent a fortune to get this level of care for a very visibly half-human girl like me. Either that or the wizarding world wasn't as racist as I feared.

Maybe it was a combination of the two?

Hopefully.

I fell asleep at some point during all the poking and prodding and dreamed of a pretty redheaded girl with glowing green eyes and a lying mirror that wanted my life. I dreamed of a funeral where Mama and many of my sisters cried. I dreamed of blood and a neck with bloody bite marks. Eventually, I woke up again, but this time I woke up slowly. Someone was speaking. It was a comforting murmur of nonsense. After some time I recognized the voices as Father and the healer in charge of my care in the mornings.

"She's been asleep for a few days now- No, Hal, no. Don't worry, we checked, it's just regular, if very deep, sleep. She can be woken up if necessary, but from what our scans are telling us this is her body trying to grow but having a hard time doing so. She'll be very sluggish and weak until it's complete, and she'll likely spend most of the time sleeping."

"But she's okay, right?"

Well, he wasn't wrong. Just opening my eyes had been tiring, and I already felt like falling back asleep. Unfortunately, I was kind of uncomfortable on my back. It took me a few minutes to gather the energy to try to turn on my side and bring my tail to my front so could hug something warm and fluffy. Father and my healer had at some point during those minutes noticed my open eyes. The healer just cast some spells at me and asked some questions. Father though? His reaction was more intense and I was suddenly in his arms.

Oh. He was hugging me. That was nice. So I hugged my tail, cuddled against him, and went back to sleep.

The next time I woke up to a sweet voice humming a melody and I was being held against someone's chest. I wiggled a little and got comfortable, which prompted a tight squeeze from my hugger.

"God, it's so good to see you awake, little sis."

I felt her plant a kiss on the top of my head, and loosen her hold on me just enough to look me in the eyes. She was pretty, blonde with blue eyes. She seemed to be somewhat bigger than Mama, which wasn't saying much, seeing as she was pretty tiny, but still. When you're as small as Mama, size differences tended to be noticeable. She looked old enough to be Mama's mother.

"Grandmother?"

"Ouch, little sis. I'm not that old. That old hag's got to be a couple thousand years old by now. And probably still looks a couple decades younger than me too."

She looked pretty when she pouted. Then she brightened up and smiled at me.

"You know, I'm kind of impressed. If what Mother said is true, our grandmother is going to dislike you even more than she does me, which is saying something. She's a bit of a racist, you see. In her eyes, it's bad enough we're half human, but to have the gall to not be born with her blood Awake? At least she tolerates the ones who Awaken later a bit more than us humans, but, well. You somehow got her Goddess to destroy two ancient kitsunes for your sake, grievously hurt her mother, and received a blessing from said deity. Soooo, yeah."

The fuck?

"Don't worry about it."

I must have made a face.

"You know, my oldest daughter has a daughter about your age."

That merited a response, so I marshaled all of my admittedly scarce energy and spoke.

"So, not my grandmother," I said, and the words came out sleepy and slurred. "But still old enough to be a grandmother."

She pouted at me. I was happy, and as sleep overcame me again and my eyes closed, I heard her fond murmur as if from far away.

"Brat. You're definitely my little sis. Sleep well. Big Sis Madoka will look after you."

The third time I woke up was to people talking about me. You know, for a change. There was also someone rubbing one of my fox ears. I actually felt a lot less tired this time. Still sluggish, but awake enough that I didn't feel like sleeping more.

"How is my granddaughter, daughter?"

"She's doing well. She's almost finished her Ph.D. She's so busy I usually end up taking care of Dawn for her." Dawn. Was that the name of my great niece?

It was a really nice name.

"Ph.D.?" I could hear father's confusion over the word.

"It is the most advanced level of study possible in a specific field of research, consort."

"How old did you say your granddaughter is?"

"Hm. Forty? Madoka, is that correct?"

"Mom, really. Rachel is 28."

I had a niece who was older than my father. I wasn't sure how to feel about that one. Wait. I had a sister who was old enough to be my father's mother. Though chances were I had several even older than that.

"Ah, of course."

I was on my side, and the voices were coming from in front of me. I should be able to see them if I opened my eyes, but if I opened my eyes, I had a feeling my parents would stop the conversation in favor of focusing on me. So I only opened them a little and peered at my family through my eyelashes. My sister was the first thing I noticed

Madoka was directly in front of me, sitting on a comfortable looking chair. Mama was next to the head of my bed, and she was half looking at me and half looking at my sister and Father, who I could barely see at the edge of my vision at the foot of my bed. I'd been right. My sister was taller and bigger in general than Mama. Hell… Wait, should it be Yomi, now?

Hm.

Nah. I couldn't pretend to know enough about the culture, or be enough of a part of it, for it to not be posing.

Where was I? Oh, right.

Hell, Mama looked like a child next to my sister. It was as I contemplated my mother's diminutive size that I had a thought. It was an extremely amusing thought. So amusing, in fact, that I couldn't keep myself from bursting out laughing.

"Beloved, you're awake!" She practically teleported through the short distance between the two of us and pulled me into her arms. This just made me laugh harder. Eventually, my endless giggling overcame Mama's attempts to merge our bodies through the strength of her hug and pulled back to look me in the eyes. "What is so amusing that has robbed you of all self-control?"

Her question just made it harder to regain control and a fresh bout of giggles drew a pout from her. Cue more giggles. She responded by pushing her mind into mine, and viewing the mental image that had driven me to uncontrollable laughter.

"What."

Her flat response and the flat expression on her face only made it worse. I was starting to feel lightheaded. Apparently, you could laugh so much and so hard that it made breathing difficult. Father and Madoka just stared, bemused but clearly happy I was awake.

"So, mom, why is she like that?"

"She… She finds my body's size in comparison to yours to be amusing and thinks that I look like a child next to her mother."

"Okay, I can see how that's a little funny, but enough that she can't stop laughing?"

Mama's flat expression turned into a pout.

"She then thought about you as a mother and then about me as a mother."

"Okay?"

"And then she pictured me heavily pregnant and found the mental image hysterical given my size."

"Oh."

A pause followed by laughter from both my sister and father.

"It's not that funny!"

I made an immense effort of will to control my laughter and spoke,

"J-Just ima-gine what s-she looked like when she was p-pregnant with the twins!"

And just like that, they both went off in a fresh wave of laughter. Mama responded by biting an ear. I didn't stop laughing. Several minutes and a few moments of unconsciousness due to oxygen deprivation from laughing too hard, we were finally relatively calm, small bouts of sudden giggling notwithstanding. Mama just fumed and refused to look at us.

"Aw, don't be like that, mom."

She ignored her.

"You do remember I've seen you pregnant, right? It's hard to argue with reality," said Father, once again proving he must have been Gryffindor to have balls that big.

She did not, in fact, ignore that. No, she glared at him and growled deep in her chest. It was fucking terrifying and I felt the sound resonate through my very bones, triggering instincts rooted at the core of one side of my being. There was no fight or flight in light of that sound and so I simply froze in her arms.

"Woah, hey. I'm sorry, okay? Calm down."

"Mom, calm down! You're scaring Izumi!"

And just like that, the sound from hell went away and I could move again, which I promptly attempted to do by trying to get away from the source of the sound from hell. It just squeezed harder to keep me from escaping.

"Shh, shh. It's okay beloved. You're okay. You're safe."

Her voice brought me back from whatever abyss of terror I'd been, and I started crying.

"I'm so sorry, beloved. Please, forgive me."

I cried harder but tried to nod against her chest. The terror had brought back memories of what had happened in that clearing. It made the scars I could feel on my magic stand out. They ached in time with my heartbeat. It was as I was calming down that my Healer came in gave me several potions to drink. Said potions, surprisingly, didn't taste as nasty as I would have imagined them tasting.

"Ted, how's her magic? Will- Will she be able to use a wand?" Father's questions had a desperate air to them. Honestly, now that he mentioned the possibility, I was similarly fucking terrified at the possibility that my magical ability could be permanently crippled.

Judging by the looks all three other people in the room gave him, our level of preoccupation over the state of my magic was not appreciated. I honestly didn't get it. It was about the only thing worth asking at this point. Clearly, I was alive, and I vaguely recalled hearing something about me being okay and in the clear now with regards to possibly dying or suffering other serious health issues that could potentially risk my life and health. So really, asking about the state of my magic was the only useful thing to do at the moment.

I felt a number of spells hit me after a pause following father's question, and Healer Ted answered in a way that left me no doubt that he was glaring at Father.

"Her magic has healed surprisingly well. Miraculously well, even. She should have no problems doing magic over the mid to long term. She might struggle a little in the beginning while her magic adapts to what was done to it, but with Consort Alstreim as her mother, I'm sure your daughter will be a great witch given time."

"Thank Merlin"

"Thank fuck."

Hostility and incredulity flooded the room in equal measures. My sister, mother, and Healer did not appreciate the way Father seemed to consider my not having the ability to use a wand to be such a horrible thing. Similarly, they had some difficulty believing that a toddler had just said what I had. Also, there was a chance that some of the hostility came from the mistaken assumption that I had come to believe that a lack of magical ability was inherently bad or negative in some way due to Father's own beliefs on the matter.

Which was silly.

A lack of magical ability was bad simply because it meant I would be incapable of doing magic. Perhaps if I hadn't already discovered the wonders of magic beforehand I might be less concerned due to ignorance, but I knew the truth. I knew how truly amazing magic was, and I would have sacrificed quite a bit just for a chance that I might be able to recover its use.

Then Mama bit one of my ears.

"Ow!"

"No swearing, beloved. We are better than such uncouth behavior."

I pouted. Swearing was fun.

"Yes, well. Her magic is fine, but I'd like to talk about the state of her body in general."

Oh? That was ominous, and it certainly grabbed everyone's attention.

"The prolonged bed rest caused some degradation to her muscles and bones. We've done our best to prevent it from becoming as bad as it could have been, but it's sadly an unavoidable fact of the situation. We'll provide her with a potion's regimen to try to heal as much of the damage as possible. I wish I could say she'll make a full recovery, but at this point, it's impossible to say how she'll react to the treatment. It's different from person to person."

"Oh. Well, okay then. I guess. I mean, I'll just be a little weaker than normal if I don't recover completely, right?"

My question seemed to take everyone by surprise, and Healer Ted had to take a moment to gather himself.

"Yes and no. Yes, you might be physically weaker than you would otherwise be, and there might also be some pain in joints and some clumsiness stemming from such. Mainly, what I'm concerned with preventing is the possibility of long term pain."

"Oh. Well, good. Pain sucks."

"Yes, it definitely does. Other than that, you're healthy enough to leave if you manage to maintain a normal sleep schedule."

"I don't think that will be a problem. I don't feel sleepy at all. Honestly, I feel like I have more and more energy the longer I'm awake."

I wasn't lying either, it was like my fucking everything was waking up from an amazing night's sleep. I stretched against Mama, feeling everything pull in a feeling somewhere between delicious and painful. Almost like my muscles hadn't been properly stretched in months. Wonder fucking why. Then Big Sis Madoka spoke.

"So, is no one going to comment on Izumi's new tail?"

Wait, what?

I looked back and saw two long and fluffy tails attached to me.

Oh.

Well, okay then.


End file.
